Topland appoints new finance director

Jun
2015

Wilson joins Topland with 20 years of experience in real estate and capital markets. He was previously at Pacific Investments where he was responsible for fund management activities as chief operating officer and as managing director of corporate finance for the group.
Prior to that he was at Hawkpoint Partners where he advised on a number of public and private M&A transactions in both the real estate and financial services sectors. He qualified as a chartered accountant at Deloitte.
He replaces Richard Jones who has been with the company for six years.
Mark Kingston, managing director of Topland said: “Simon brings a wealth of experience both in public and private markets and he will be an invaluable member of the senior management team. I would like to thank Richard for his contribution to the group and wish him well in his future endeavours.”

Wilson will join Topland in July.
In addition Topland has appointed Ian Guthrie as a consultant to the group. Guthrie had previously been managing director at Lloyds Bank in its Global Non-Core division working across all asset classes. Guthrie will be working two days a week for Topland.
Group chairman and chief executive Sol Zakay added: “We are delighted Ian is joining us at a time of continued expansion of the group across commercial real estate, structured finance including lending and joint ventures and hotels. His experience will add a new dimension to the company and we look forward to working with him on our new projects.”
The hires come as Topland continues to pursue an ambitious growth strategy across a range of sectors. Topland is seeking to grow its hotel portfolio and now has some 40 hotels across the UK. In addition having made £200m of sales in 2014 it is seeking to add to its substantial property portfolio. It is also seeking to boost its loan book which is in excess of £400m and to increase its joint venture transactions with developers and investors.